St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1887-08-11
NEW HAMPSHIRE JUSTICE.

In common with many other papers
in the state the CaledOnian published
two or three weeks ago the statement
that Rev. j. r. Bartlett, editor of the
Standard Bearer, the prohibition organ
of New Hampshire, was arraigned be-
fore the Concord police court for as
saulting a ten-years-Old boy. Mr..
Bartlett is we'll known in this vicinity
and it is no more than fair that his
side of the story be told. This is, in
substance, that after being annoyed by
offensive and indecent conduct from a
street hOodlum, who had evidently
gathered himself under the window for
the express purpose of giving annoy
ance to the family, Mr.. Bartlett first
requested, then warned the boy to re-
tire and finally took him by the ear and
started him homeward.
The story of the arrest would hardly
be worth the telling were it not that
the milk in the cOcOanut is found in
the fact that the whole disturbance was
the result of opposition on the part of
city politicians to the advanced views
on the liquor question maintained by
Mr.. Bartlett in the Standard Bearer.
Mr.. Bartlett gets even with his perse-
cutOrs, however, by selling the OppOr-
tunity thus offered to lift the veil and
disclose the methods adopted by New
Hampshire politicians in dealing out
justice-tO those whom they don't like.
1t is interesting to note how these
fellows managed affairs. First it was
demanded that the arrest be made
The city marshal thought this was 60
ing little too far and protested. A
warrant was finally secured and served
at 10 o'clock at night, City Marshal
COnnel admitting that in all his admin
istratiOn of the police department of
the city he had never before been pre-
vailed upon to enforce the arbitrary
arrest of any citizen at such an hour,
compelling him to appear, as was the
case in this instance, before the court
under arraignment as accused for
crime. Judge Badger, by the way,
seems to have been ready tool in the
hands of the ring-leaders, accepting
the evidence of the ten-years-O boy
without even putting him under oath,
in preference to that of Mr.. Bartlett,
and declining to allow the accused suf
fcient time to consult counsel and pre-
pare his defence. And all this in New
England The editor of the Standard
Bearer may have been injudiciOus and
all that, but the idea of arresting a
man who drives ul-mOuthed hood
lum from under his window when the
family are gathered within seeking to
enjoy the privilege of quiet home, is
unique. A leading republican paper
of New York very pertinently COM
ments on this sort of justice that per-
mits police officer to stand idly by
while noisy hOOdlum annOys peace
able citizen, and arrests the citizen in
place of the hOOdlum.
But we are not greatly surprised. At
Sioux City, Iowa, jackson, Miss, and
Haverhill, Ohio, they shoot prohibition
cranks at Concord, N. H., they have
them arrested at 10 o'clock at night on
some trumped-up charge and make
living martyrs of them. Meanwhile,
Mr.. Bartlett's paper, which rumor de-
clared was on the verge of financial
ruin, is enjoying a regular boom.
Largely increased editions are being
sold and the Concord ring politicians
are giving him an unlimited amount of
free advertising. There are lots of
morals hidden in this little story that
will suggest themselves to temperance
loving people who cannot bear the
prohibition crank.